Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/268

 civil list is three hundred thousand pounds sterling annually, and so skilful has been the management of the Imperial Estates Bureau—this, too, largely owing to Marquis Itō's contrivance—that His Majesty's funded property amounts to about four millions sterling, and he further owns large tracts of forest land which will one day possess great value. The demands upon his purse, however, are very heavy. He supports the whole of the princely families, including that of the Prince Imperial; he accompanies all patents of nobility with handsome sums; he makes liberal allowances to Cabinet Ministers by way of supplement to their salaries; he pays the honoraria that go with orders and medals; he gives large amounts to charitable purposes, many of which escape public attention altogether, and he devotes considerable sums to the encouragement of art. His own manner of life is simple and frugal, and it may truly be said that his record does not show one act unworthy of the reverence with which his subjects regard him.

The framers of the Constitution were of course careful not to make its provisions too liberal. They fixed the minimum age for electors and candidates at twenty-five, and the property qualification at a payment of direct taxes aggregating at least thirty shillings (fifteen yen) annually. A bi-cameral system was adopted for the Diet; the House of Peers (Kizoku-in) being in part hereditary, in part elective, and in part nomi-